爱国主义对我意味着什么
Susan著 小哭译
“爱国主义”这个词儿时常跟独立宣言、美国宪法创始人或勇敢地保卫我们国家的战士们联系在一起。这个词让美国人对那些曾经为了国家的自由而战的人们充满了感激之情、让他们对现在的国家充满了自豪之情。很多家庭会在独立日用星条旗（译者注：美国国旗）装饰他们的房子，来表达他们对美国的支持；他们每天都会说“对美国的效忠宣誓”；他们是好公民的最好典范。然而，我不认为那就是爱国主义。
是的，了解美国的历史很重要，但是仅仅因为某些人能够背出来所有的美国总统名序并不会让他们因此就有爱国心；是的，在庆祝7月4号独立日时展示出恰当的精神面貌很重要，但是仅仅因为某些人把他们的脸画成了红色、白色和兰色（译者注：美国国旗色）并不会让他们因此就成为真正的爱国者。我认为爱国主义远不止是仅仅显示出对我的国家的支持，它实际上应该是为了使我的国家更美好而去做点什么。
我们美国宪法的创始人为这个国家的自由而战；民权拥护者，比如马丁.路德.金，为全体人民的正义和权利而战。那我呢？即使我还是个仅仅13岁的孩子，还没长大到可以投票的年纪，我相信我能做的远比只是在独立日看烟火时欢呼一下要多得多。我认为做为一名爱国者，不应如马克.吐温曾经在书中幽默地描述过的那样，仅仅是“最大声地叫喊着他所并不明白的东西的人”。
在这样一个新技术的时代，为国家服务的机会很多，并非只能去当战士。我可以成为一名电影编辑、一名教师、一名作家或者是任何别的什么。不管我做什么工作，我将会尽最大努力去做，用我的聪明才智使美国变得更美好。对我而言，那就是爱国主义的含义。它意味着要努力学习，要不仅仅成为一个好公民，还要成为一个有用的公民；它意味着美国会因为我所能做的事情而变得更加美好；它意味着，从现在开始，在学校里努力学习，以便当我长大时，会对我的国家有所贡献。那就是爱国主义对我意味着的东西。
【小哭介绍背景】这个作文有字数的要求。Susan写完发现字数多了几十个，于是花了很多时间缩小篇幅。她说虽然文字最后不多，可是在上面花的时间却是不少。首先是因为这是一个命题作文，题目是她非常不喜欢的一类，她冥思苦想了几个小时才把小文写完，因为她说根本就没有任何思路；另一个是因为要缩减篇幅也非常伤脑筋；还有一个原因是要认真地查找语法及拼写错，。
这个作文是威尔基女士要求全班同学必须参加的一个作文比赛的征文稿。据Susan说，威尔基女士曾经的一个学生，多年前，在这种征文大赛中获得过全国大奖，是州第一名，得到了一笔不小的资金。也许威尔基女士因此会认为，她的班上说不定哪个还会再得一次大奖吧？反正威尔基女士把这当成作业来要求了。
大概是因为题目所致吧，Susan对此活动相当地不感兴趣。她觉得能够把作文顺利上交就好。但是我读了她的小文，感觉相当地不错！文字很流畅，也有她自己的想法。不过这是见仁见智的问题，Susan爸说结尾都写跑题了。大话咱且不说，做为作业，应属上等吧？我都不明白，Susan她从哪里弄来的马克.吐温的话，又是从哪里联想到的马丁.路德.金，还有独立宣言和宪法创始人这一类的。至少，我是写不出来这些东西的。看来八年级的课程把她从幻想世界拉回现实世界了不少，威尔基女士的阅读要求和社会学的学习内容都和现实社会有紧密的联系，Susan明显地在成长着。
这是Susan的作文中，难得地经过认真查错的一篇：）大概和她的上一篇作文，关于观察黑夜的那篇，洋洋洒洒了千余字，结果却分数不高非常有关系吧？当然，这次老师给了足够的时间用来编辑查错，也是督促她静下心来重读和编辑的重要原因。我越来越感觉，这么大的孩子，老师的引导太重要了！遇到一个合适的好老师，太幸运了。而幸运的Susan，这学期遇到的好老师可不是一个两个，至少有四个！我们有时偷偷感慨，好学区的房产税，确实能够请到好老师，不服不行！
至于对美国的认同感，我想我们在这里就不做讨论了吧。
还有一件事儿，我想提一下，就是前段日子和琳达妈妈关于作文题目的交流。她说孩子有一个英文讲演比赛，题目是给定的——“We are the morning stars”，我说一听就不是美国式的题目：）美国式的题目会是“Are we the morning stars?”。题目如果是以“句号”或“感叹号”结尾的，无意中就变成了你只能证明它；而题目如果是以“问号”结尾的，就注定了你要讨论它。
附上英文原文：
What Patriotism Means to Me
The word “patriotism” is often associated with things like
the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers, or the brave soldiers
out there defending our country. That word makes Americans think about how
grateful they are to the men that fought for their country’s freedom, and how
proud they are of their country now. Many families would decorate their house
with stars and stripes on Independence Day to show their support for America. They
would say the Pledge of Allegiance every day. They would be the perfect
examples of good citizens. However, I don’t think that’s what patriotism is
about.
Yes, it is important to know the history of theUnited States, but just because someone can
memorize all theU.S.
presidents doesn’t make them patriotic. Yes, it is important to display the
proper spirit while celebrating for 4th of July, but just because
someone has their whole face painted red, white, and blue doesn’t make them truly
patriotic. I believe that patriotism is more than just showing my support for
my country. It’s actually doing
something to make my country better.
Our Founding Fathers fought for the liberty of this country.
Civil right advocates, like Martin Luther King, fought for the justice and
rights of all people. What about me? Even though I’m just a 13-year-old kid,
not yet old enough to vote, I believe I can do much more than just cheer during
the fireworks of 4th of July. I think that being a patriot isn’t
just being “the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is
hollering about”, as Mark Twain so humorously put it. There is a lot more that
I can do for my country.
In this new era of technology, there are many more
opportunities to serve my country other than becoming a soldier. I can become a
film editor, a teacher, a writer, or anything else. Whatever job I take, I will
do my best at it, and use my talent to makeAmericaa better place. To me, that
is what patriotism means. It means working hard to become not just a good
citizen, but a useful citizen. It means makingAmericabetter because of what I
can do. It means, starting now, to study hard in school, so that when I grow
up, I will be useful to my country. That is what patriotism means to me.
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